It is Holy Week and as I write these words over 3,500 of our sisters and brothers have perished from the March 28th earthquake in Myanmar. Thousands more have been injured. Thousands more are unaccounted for. I cannot imagine the pain of those who have lost loved ones and those whose loved ones are still missing in the aftermath of this disaster.
I also cannot imagine the pain of those who have lost loved ones in Gaza. Since the departed fell victim to the evils of genocide, thousands of bodies have yet to be recovered from under the rubble.
This means no wakes, no necrological services, and no goodbyes for the bereaved.
Last words are important to many of us. Especially these days. I am sure that the last text message from a dear doctor or nurse who died in Gaza will be cherished forever. That final phone call from a grandparent in Mandalay. That last Facebook message from a beloved colleague. That last minute video call from a spouse. Last words. Now, all precious. Priceless.
My late mother’s last words to me, when we were in the very cold Emergency Room of the Philippine Heart Center, were: “Anak, mainit, paypayan mo ako (Child, It’s hot, fan me).” My late father’s final text message to me was: “Thank you.” Precious. Priceless.
“Tama na po, may exam pa ako bukas.”
(Please, enough, I have exams tomorrow.)
These were Kian Delos Santos’s last words, before he was murdered, one of the victims of Duterte's War on Drugs which was actually a War on the Poor. Kian's final spoken words, heard by witnesses, helped convict his murderers.
And, of course, the most famous last words ever memorialized would be Jesus’s as found in the gospels. Tradition calls these the “Seven Last Words.” Mark has one. So does Matthew. Luke has three. So does John. If you add those up, they total eight. Since Mark’s and Matthew’s versions are almost the same, tradition calls both “The Fourth Word.”
Most of us have heard homily after homily every Good Friday year after year on these utterances. Precious and priceless. But let us never forget: these last words from the cross are actually last words of someone who fell victim to an extra-judicial killing. Arrested at night. Murdered by state authorities.
Like Kian.
TO BE CONTINUED.
This means no wakes, no necrological services, and no goodbyes for the bereaved.
Last words are important to many of us. Especially these days. I am sure that the last text message from a dear doctor or nurse who died in Gaza will be cherished forever. That final phone call from a grandparent in Mandalay. That last Facebook message from a beloved colleague. That last minute video call from a spouse. Last words. Now, all precious. Priceless.
My late mother’s last words to me, when we were in the very cold Emergency Room of the Philippine Heart Center, were: “Anak, mainit, paypayan mo ako (Child, It’s hot, fan me).” My late father’s final text message to me was: “Thank you.” Precious. Priceless.
“Tama na po, may exam pa ako bukas.”
(Please, enough, I have exams tomorrow.)
These were Kian Delos Santos’s last words, before he was murdered, one of the victims of Duterte's War on Drugs which was actually a War on the Poor. Kian's final spoken words, heard by witnesses, helped convict his murderers.
And, of course, the most famous last words ever memorialized would be Jesus’s as found in the gospels. Tradition calls these the “Seven Last Words.” Mark has one. So does Matthew. Luke has three. So does John. If you add those up, they total eight. Since Mark’s and Matthew’s versions are almost the same, tradition calls both “The Fourth Word.”
Most of us have heard homily after homily every Good Friday year after year on these utterances. Precious and priceless. But let us never forget: these last words from the cross are actually last words of someone who fell victim to an extra-judicial killing. Arrested at night. Murdered by state authorities.
Like Kian.
TO BE CONTINUED.
*Photo from Rappler
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